Schanler 1999.

Methods	Randomised controlled trial
Participants	Infants 26 to 30 weeks' gestation whose birth weight was appropriate for gestational age, who had no major congenital anomalies Setting: Texas Children's Hospital, Texas, USA
Interventions	Minimal enteral nutrition (N = 82) vs. enteral fasting (N = 89). The minimal enteral feeding group received 20 ml/kg/day of expressed breast milk or half‐strength preterm formula from day 4 to 14 after birth
Outcomes	Feeding tolerance; days to full enteral feeding Incidence of necrotising enterocolitis Time to regain birth weight and growth parameters during hospital admission Incidence of invasive infection Mortality
Notes	This study used a factorial design in which infants were randomised to 4 groups (continuous minimal enteral feeds, intermittent bolus minimal enteral feeds, enteral fasting followed by continuous feeding, enteral fasting followed by bolus feeding) to allow simultaneous assessment of the use of both minimal enteral nutrition and continuous feedings vs. bolus. In this review, Schanler 1999 refers to outcomes reported for all infants in trophic feedings group vs. all control infants [February 2009: mortality data received from Dr Schanler.] [June 2012: incidence of infection data received from Dr Schanler]
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Stratification by gestational age and type of milk followed by randomisation using sealed opaque envelopes
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Adequate given the use of sealed envelopes
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Care givers and investigators not blinded following randomisation
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not described
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Intention‐to‐treat analysis